Puerto Maldonado is a city in Southeastern Peru in the Amazon forest 55 kilometres (34 mi) west of the Bolivian border on the confluence of the Tambopata and Madre de Dios River, a tributary of the Amazon River. It is the capital of the Madre de Dios Region.
Nearby are the Manú National Park, Tambopata National Reserve, and Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. These are some of the most pristine primary rain forests in the world, which include several oxbow lakes and clay licks, where hundreds of birds including macaws feed on clay.
The Interoceanic Highway or Trans-oceanic highway, now under construction, is intended to link the river ports of Brazil with the Pacific coast ports of Peru. The highway is planned to pass through Puerto Maldonado, crossing the Rio Madre de Dios on a 722 m (2,369 ft) viaduct, the President Guillermo Billinghurst Bridge. The bridge, like the highway, had been proposed decades ago. Construction began under the administration of Alejandro Toledo but has since stalled due to financial problems. The delays have also contributed to structural deficiencies. [update - I was in P.M. at the end of MAy. 2011 and work on the bridge is progressing.]
In the greater area around Puerto Maldonado the highway's route cuts through primary rain forest. Some groups, including the Peruvian NGO Asociación Civil Labor, anticipate that the road will initiate illegal logging, hunting and settlement in areas not easily reached at present, as well as conflict with indigenous people some of who are at present uncontacted by the modern world.
Links:
Videos:
http://www.vimeo.com/user5629714
Book:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1274990
Website:
http://www.PeruPhotoTours.com